Episode 328
Introduction Utsuro's past is revealed as well as his ultimate plan, plus revelations are made. The Rakuyou Arc finale. Plot Takechi recites to Gintoki, Katsura, and Sakamoto what the dying Oboro told his boss Takasugi. He tells about how Oboro was Shouyou’s first and last student, responsible for creating and ending “Shouyou”’s existence and ultimately responsible for the emergence of Utsuro. When Utsuro revived in front of Oboro and the Naraku after being beheaded and burned, the assassins arrested him and took him to the Tendoushuu. Their scientists studied his blood, concluding his immortality thanks to the Altana, so the Tendoushuu asked the restrained immortal how he gained the ability. Utsuro admitted that he had lived for so long that he had forgotten his name or believed he never had one. All he knew was the constant hatred and insults from the populous , the most common was being called “Devil”; Gintoki is reminded of his and Shouyou’s first meeting along with his own “Devil” nickname. Utsuro was violently tortured and killed by the fearful people because of his immortality but he constantly revived in front of them further fueling their fear and hate which lead to more persecution, a vicious cycle. Utsuro created multiple personalities to cope with the constant suffering and after being freed from jail, staying there for so long that its door rotted away, his personalities took over which resulted in him becoming a serial killer. He continued his vengeful killing spree until he was caught by the government, yet instead of executing him, the imperial court decided to make him their assassin. He formed and lead the Tenshoin Naraku for 500 years in constant bloodshed yet during these years, his other personalities began to wish to be human again despite hating and fearing them. Utsuro told the Tendoushuu that it was inevitable that a new personality will form that will stop his other bloodthirsty selves; that person being the persona known as Yoshida Shouyou. Shouyou suppressed the other personalities and desperately tried to resist and change. But he failed and as he was about to be executed by Gintoki, in his mental landscape, the original personality had killed all the others and left him for last, stating that he will end his suffering. Shouyou was then mentally and physically killed by the original personality and Gintoki respectively. After finishing his tale, a Tendoushuu member concluded that Utsuro wished to find a way to die yet chastised him on never taking advantage of his immortality that he believed would allow the universe to evolve. Utsuro made a deal with the Amanto group, he will let them experiment on him if they can help him find a way to die. He reminds them that he can easily free himself and kill them on the spot as well as knowing a way to give them immortality (Oboro quietly looked on while they talked). He simply asked them to give him the power to kill himself. The wary Tendoushuu allowed Utsuro to join their ranks but they refused to give him any power or authority. The immortal sought the ability only the Tendoushuu possess: the power to control a planet’s Altana. They are able do so thanks to a seal on their palm called a ‘key’, containing a code that controls the Altana Gates and only the highest rank officials can have it. Its creation method is unknown, the tattoo seals are permanent and trying to rip it off with kill its owner, yet if the owner dies then the tattoo fades. To be allowed to wield the key, you need the Tendoushuu to all agree, thus there was no way for Utsuro to control Altana… or so it seemed. In the Tendoushuu’s ship that is hovering in Earth’s sky, the Tendoushuu summoned Utsuro to reveal that the planet Tanko’s Altana went berserk, destroying the terminal, their branch and the city both were in on an unprecedented scale. A Tendoushuu member believed that the terminal was sabotaged as they received reports before the destruction that unknown assailants attacked it. Both he and Utsuro concluded that there was a traitor among the Tendoushuu, as only they have the ability to control the gates and make it go berserk. Utsuro wonders how the traitor will be able to gather men loyal to him but the member counters that although the Tendoushuu controls planets holding their terminals, the traitor could have gathered an army that doesn’t belong to any planet…. For example, the Harusame Utsuro has just gained control of. Utsuro’s trip to Rakuyou was to use his new subordinates to defeat any rebels but the member believed that the immortal didn’t use the entire syndicate and Rakuyou was a distraction to Utsuro’s true goal: using half of the Harusame to sabotage the terminals of other planets and causing destruction. He demands to know where Utsuro stole a key, but Utsuro smirks and insists he stole nothing. He gave his immortal blood to the Tendoushuu as promised and the group willingly parted with many things to gain his blood to become immortal. This in turn allowed the key to become indestructible and he shows the member a still living severed arm containing the tattoo, insisting that he merely picked it up after they dropped it. The member demands to the other members who gave Utsuro the key but the immortal reveals that an immortal’s blood will only work as it should in an immortal’s body. Placing said blood in a mortal’s body will eventually cause the body to weaken. But in the Tendoushuu’s case, because they greedily took in the blood to the point of overflowing, their bodies are starting to rot and fall apart. Despite this, they will continue to live and suffer until their bodies rot away. Suddenly over half the Tendoushuu cry out at him for breaking his promise to find a way to restore their rotting bodies in exchange for the keys. Horrified at the revelation, the member also realizes something else and Utsuro confirms his suspicions: they will receive reports of other planets whose gates were destroyed equal to the number of keys the Tendoushuu gave him. He predicts that after the destruction, the survivors and others will hate them and believe that the group can no longer be trusted with the gates. Thus the forming army will go to Earth, the Tendoushuu’s main base. The fearful member sees Utsuro's wish to go to war with the universe, but Utsuro answers that Earth created him, the monster, and as long as he absorbs its Altana, he won’t die. As long as the planet exists, everyone’s, including his and the Tendoushuu’s, suffering will continue forever. So the only way to end said suffering, he believes, is to get rid of Earth. The dying Oboro finishes telling Takasugi Utsuro’s plan and ask Shouyou’s students to fight Utsuro, as Shouyou’s failed struggle to defeat Utsuro created them. He admits that losing sight of himself made him unable to fight for Shouyou, Utsuro, or himself. With his dying breath, Oboro wishes that if things had turned out differently, he would have liked to be with Takasugi, GIntoki, Katsura and Shouyou as their friend. Takasugi picks up Oboro’s corpse and walks away, telling his surprised men to come. He states Oboro’s resting place wasn’t in Rakuyou; though he didn’t know whether he will be placed next to his master or his fellow students, they will go to Shoka Sonjuku. In the present, after Takechi finishes, he and his two guards leave. A worried Sakamoto looks at Katsura and Gintoki, who admits that despite the revelation that Utsuro killed the Shouyou persona, it was still because of Shouyou’s students that Utsuro had the opportunity in the first place. They had ignored Shouyou’s wish to move on and then entered the Joui Wars, exposing them to more danger, with Gintoki giving the final blow. Even so, Gintoki wondered why Shouyou smiled at him and said “thank you” despite his impending death. Katsura believed that Shouyou knew he was living on borrowed time, that Utsuro will eventually arise and be a universal threat. He had formed Shouka Sonjuku as a hope against that darkness and was happy that Gintoki, his biggest hope, will protect it and its spirit. It was why he showed no fear or sorrow at his execution and why both he and Gintoki smiled at each other. Sakamoto adds that Shouyou’s struggles gave birth to his students, whose own struggles formed himself and their other comrades. He wonders what their struggles will create and that they will show the results to the two Shouyous. Weeks later, Kagura stands in front of her mother’s grave holding a bouquet of purple flowers. Umibouzu arrives behind her and asks if he was going to Earth that may be destroyed. He then corrects himself and asks if she was going home since that is what the planet is to her now and admits he wanted to stop her but refrained. He asks Kagura to tell Gintoki that Utsuro wasn’t immortal and he’ll find a way to kill him; hang in there until then and he’ll kill him if something happens to Kagura. Kouka forced him back to the living, Umibouzu states, with a job he still had to do though he can no longer touch their children. He didn’t understand the significant of her words but he can at least use his mechanical arms to pick up stones from the ground and flowers for her, also holding a bouquet of blue flowers. Kagura counters that the flowers weren’t Kouka’s favorite and the hunter was surprised that Kagura remembered. She admits she didn’t know either until seeing Kouka’s grave and the stunned father sees a single pink flower on the gravestone courtesy of Kamui. The two place the bouquets before going their separate ways, Umibouzu staying in Rakuyou. As the remnant Harusame, Kiheitai and Kaientai (with Katsura’s Joui faction and the Yorozuya) all leave separately in their ships, Shinpachi’s voiceover repeats his words from the anime’s beginning about the Samurai Country, where the once clear skies were now covered with foreign ships and towns where the proud samurai walked were replaced by arrogant aliens. The samurai were stripped of their honor and status but the samurai spirit still exist and will never die. And as large armadas of Amanto spaceships gather around Earth, Shinpachi states that their final battle has just begun. Characters * Tenshouin Naraku (flashback) ** Oboro * Utsuro * Yoshida Shouyou (flashback) * Tendoshu * Kiheitai ** Takasugi Shinsuke ** Takechi Henpeita ** Kijima Matako (cameo) ** Kawakami Bansai (cameo) * Sakata Gintoki * Jouishishi ** Katsura Kotarou ** Elizabeth (cameo) * Kaientai ** Sakamoto Tatsuma ** Mutsu (cameo) * Shimura Shinpachi * Kagura * Sadaharu * Umibouzu * Kamui (cameo) Trivia Category:Episodes